A Belated But Super Father's Day Gift

No, this wasn't a late gift from my kids. I had hoped to make a trip out to my LCS last Sunday to pick up a few Panini Father's Day promo packs. However, due to family obligations(and realizing that the shop was giving out single packs for every $30 spent) the trip never materialized. I did begin to peruse the offerings on eBay though and when I saw the following listed for a great Buy It Now price, I had to make the purchase.

This is the Cracked Ice parallel of Mr. Super Bowl MVP, Von Miller. It's a bit tough to see through the cracked ice, but that is a photo of him eyeing the loose ball in the moments after one of his forced fumbles in the Big Game. I love everything about this card! The action shot brings me fond memories of watching the game live, the SB50 patch is clearly visible on his jersey, and the perspective of the shot makes me feel like I on the field fighting for the fumble recovery! Oh yeah, one more thing that's tough to see in this scan:

Yup, that's a Christmas card too!

The back is kind of a bland/typical Panini design, but just in case I ever forget the details of that game, they're right there in print!

Did I mention that I love everything about this card? I've had it in hand for only a few hours, but it's already taken its place as one of my favorite cards. Thanks for reading.

Another Day, Another Belated Christmas Card Post

Shortly before Angus from Dawg Day Cards began his Christmas card deluge, he contacted me when I posted about a few cards I picked up from the Tim Horton's UD Hockey set. He asked of there were specific cards I was looking for. We exchanged emails about the set, and before I knew it, a really great Christmas card arrived in my mailbox.

I was thrilled to find this beautiful card bursting at the seams with Tim Horton's UD goodies. The card itself really stood out to me. It's just a really great photo. Let's take a look at the contents.

Score! He sent me 2 out of 3 NJ Devils from the set and quadrupled the number of these that I own. It didn't stop there though. I also found my first die-cut insert from the set:

This was a truly great holiday gift! Thanks for the generosity Angus. I'm in the process of packing up some Browns to send your way.

One additional update I'd like to mention: I was able to drop off the first wave of outgoing packages at the post office. If you live in one of these zip codes, you should have an envelope arriving shortly.

13601

48005

28590

97213

02919

33511

Thanks to everyone for your patience. If your zip wasn't on this list, I assure you that additional packages will be dropped off in the very near future.

Two Awesome Packages from the Mitten State

After the somber tribute post from yesterday, the Great Trade Post Catch Up continues. Today I want to share two separate packages that traveled to me from Michigan, courtesy of Julie over at A Cracked Bat. The first of these packages arrived somewhere around two months back. As usual it was filled with some impressive cardboard.

I'll begin with two Yankee award winner cards, an incredible pseudo-panoramic view of 'The House That Ruth Built', and a gold parallel milestone. Tino and Paulie were fan favorites and great team players during the late nineties World Series runs. It's really nice to see some cards that showcase some individual achievements. I love the view in the background of that Blackjack! I dig the milestone parallel of A-Rod's 3000th hit. Starts off strong, but it gets stronger!

Three new Bernie cards, YES! I love the Foul Pole insert! The 'netting' is die-cut. It's awesome! As great as this package was up to this point, it finishes even stronger.

There was another new Tino, my first Yankees buy back, and a black and white, orange foil parallel of Ellsbury from '15 Stadium Club. That SC parallel is something else...great backdrop, black and white filter, and it has a confirmed print run of only 17 copies. That wraps up another top-notch package from Julie. 

However, since I was so far behind, I ended up receiving a Christmas card from ACB country before I was able to post the first package. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the good from my Cracked Bat Christmas.

First off, the actual Christmas card was very entertaining and I would have considered myself quite fortunate even if there weren't any additional contents in that envelope. That's just not the way Julie operates though. There were two items tucked inside the card and they were both fantastic!

I really loved this patch that commemorated Yankee Stadium during the team's last season there before moving to the new Yankee Stadium in 2009. It was so cool to find this treasure tucked inside that card. Once I pulled the patch out and began to read the card, I found the other item taped to the inside cover.

This may not be serial numbered or contain a 'sick patch', but it's Bernie! I hadn't seen this relic design from Bowman Heritage, but it was love at first sight. It's a clean and classic design and has already become one of my favorite relic cards of number 51.

Thanks for the incredible generosity, Julie. I promise a return package will be dropped in the mail to you soon.